OPINION
6
March 2018 Special Edition
Defense ignores root of the problem Skylar Weiss Staff Writer
Imagine the classroom of a public elementary school five years from now. In the corner is the fire alarm and the First Aid kit is in the cabinet. Oh, and there is a fully-loaded pistol in the teacher’s desk. Not even two months into the year, the Parkland shooting was the eighth to occur in 2018. The majority of Americans now agree that our nation needs to take action; NBC News stated that an all-time high of 66 percent of Americans support the idea of increased gun control. But, our nation has been unable to agree
on what gun control really translates to. To some Americans, the solution may include tougher background checks, as well as arming school teachers with guns. Placing killing devices in classrooms of children should feel bizarre for a nation that mourns the seemingly cyclic deaths of victims shot at gunpoint. By incorporating guns into the everyday environments where our children grow and learn, they may lose the sense of caution that many Americans currently associate with firearms. In addition, if the United States arms teachers, efforts to protect innocent Americans could be interpreted as violent, allowing potential shooters to keep believing that firearms really can solve their problems. There is, however, one important advantage to arming teachers that even liberals
should admit to: doing so could physically intimidate potential school shooters. That being said, although arming teachers could provide innocent people physical support in times of a shooting, collaborative efforts and studies are indicating that doing so will not make school environments significantly safer. About 200 universities, national education and mental health groups, school districts, and more than 2,300 individual experts have contributed to a cooperative project to pinpoint effective ways to end school shootings. The doc’s central message: rather than adding more weapons, focus on improving social and emotional health.By simply “matching up” to shooters using guns, we are neglecting the major factor that often culti-
vates the school shooter in the first place. Taking measures to decrease bullying and increase emotional health are actually effective. In a study published in the journal Pediatrics, the percentage of surveyed students that have experienced bullying from 109 different schools has been cut in half from 2005 to 2015. This can be attributed to the fact that schools have adopted more effective methods to decrease it, such as focusing on mutual respect rather than discipline. States have even passed laws prohibiting bullying. Increasing background checks and giving teachers guns may help decrease school shootings, but it doesn’t deal with the problem at its origin. Rather than normalizing guns and the threat of shooters, we must focus on how the shooters came to be.
Arming teachers is a terrible/great idea Maya Benjamin Staff Writer
The shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School changed everything. On Feb. 14, Nikolas Cruz stormed his former high school located in Parkland, Florida and killed 17 students and faculty. Typically in the wake of mass shootings, there is intense media coverage that simmers down after two weeks or so and politicians offer their thoughts and prayers. But the shooting in Parkland changed everything. Students are demanding that mass shootings never happen again. Senators have begun to propose a variety of bills in their respective states including banning bump stocks, raising the age minimum for owning a gun from 18 to 21, and even allowing teachers to have firearms in their classrooms. In hindsight, arming teachers is a good idea. Some students would feel a sense of safety knowing that they would have a teacher prepared to defend their classroom against a dangerous intruder. Teachers would feel more assured knowing they could fight against an intruder through the protection of a firearm. The controversial National Rifle Association (NRA) is in favor of such bills, saying that arming teachers would deter possible school shooters as these schools would no longer be perceived as “soft targets.” The head of the NRA, Wayne LaPierre, said in a speech to the Conservative Political Action Committee, “Our
banks, our airports, our NBA games, our office buildings, our politicians — they’re all more protected than our children at school. We surround and protect so much with armed security, while we drop our kids off at schools that are so-called ‘gun-free zones.” LaPierre’s argument is valid. Carlmont’s wide-open campus where firearms are strictly prohibited, except for the one our School Resource Officer (SRO) has, makes Carlmont an easy target for a mass shooter. Furthermore, Carlmont’s campus is 42 acres which would make it nearly impossible for our SRO to reach the affected area in a timely manner. While Carlmont is only a mere four minutes away from two police stations, more rural areas are not so lucky. Having armed teachers to respond to intruders could possibly be the difference between life and death. While there are several reasons to be in favor of arming teachers, there also several reasons for concern that need to be addressed by lawmakers. With police shootings of unarmed black men taking center stage in the media, other horrific stories have come to light: the mistreatment and assault of students by SRO’s. In November 2010, student Derek Lopez and another student got into a physical altercation causing SRO Daniel Alvarado to chase Lopez after he ran, and eventually shot Lopez. Alvarado later testified that Lopez bull-rushed him causing him to shoot. These are just two out of hundreds of incidents that have left students seriously injured and in Lopez’s case, dead.
Most of these incidents involve black students, despite studies showing that black and white kids commit similar punishable offenses in school. As more and more states propose giving teachers permission to have arms in their classroom, black politicians are demanding that states require teachers to undergo diversity training. On March 2, Florida’s State Senate passed the “Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act” which stipulated that school marshals must undergo at least 12 hours of diversity training. Another important concern regarding arming teachers is that students would be able to easily take guns teachers have located in their classrooms. A current proposal to arm teachers in Pennsylvania included no provisions on how guns were to be stored by armed teachers and whether teachers should keep them holstered, in their desks, or in gun safes. This is problematic. Arming teachers is a good idea, but there needs to be a provision somewhere in the law that requires teachers or other armed faculty members to have the weapon secured clearly in a gun safe. Currently, nine states in the United States allow for possession of firearms by faculty on public school campuses. Americans should expect more states to soon follow suit following most of the country’s anger over mass shootings. As states begin to pass legislation allowing faculty to carry guns on campus it’s crucial that diversity training and gun safes for armed teachers are included in the legislation.
Nobody is safe with a gun in their home Nisha Marino Staff Writer
You fail your math test and tell your friends “I’m going to kill myself.” They don’t take you seriously because it just sounds like a harmless hyperbole. Suicide seems like a thing depressed people do when the right day comes or they have the means. In reality, suicide can be an immediate response to an upsetting event. It can be a spontaneous reaction that with more consideration would never happen. “Most attempters act on impulse, in moments of panic or despair. Once
the acute feelings ease, 90 percent do not go on to die by suicide,” said David Hemenway, the director of the Harvard Injury Control Research Center (ICRC). Nearly all attempts made with a firearm are successful. Someone who attempts suicide using less instantaneous means is more likely to survive. The odds of saving someone from a gunshot are far lower. According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, about half of the 44,193 suicides committed in 2015 were committed with a firearm. The Golden Gate Bridge has been a popular suicide hotspot for decades.
July 2012 Aurora, Colo.; screening of “Batman;” 12 dead 70 wounded; gunman age 24 August 2012 Oak Creek, Wis.; Sikh temple; 6 dead; gunman age 40
In a 2003 New Yorker article discussing attempts off the bridge, survivor Ken Baldwin said, “I instantly realized that everything in my life that I’d thought was unfixable was totally fixable—except for having just jumped.” Many people believe that if someone is suicidal, they will find a way to kill themselves. They think that people without access to a gun can just as easily suffocate themselves or overdose. However, according to the Harvard ICRC, only about 3 percent of overdose attempts lead to a completed suicide. Without a gun, it is not as easy to commit suicide. This brings gun ownership into
the picture. Not everyone who kills themselves has a history of suicidal thoughts or behaviors. According to the New England Journal of Medicine, many suicidal crises are fleeting reactions to timesensitive stressors. Even without a history of depression, anyone is at risk of falling back on suicide if they lose their job, a loved one, or experience any other type of stressful situation. Gun owners have a more immediate means to that end. Gun owners have an option that leaves almost no room for error. Guns make it far too easy for peo-
December 2012 Newtown, Conn.; Sandy Hook Elementary 27 students dead; gunman age 20
ple to commit suicide in a moment of emotional weakness. A 2008 Harvard study showed that states with more gun ownership also had higher suicide rates. Now, many states are working towards preventing gun-related suicides by selling gun locks or giving out flyers warning people of the risks. But the solution is not about responsible gun ownership. We as humans are impulsive, and having guns around as an option presents a danger to those who own them. The National Suicide Prevention Hotline is available 24/7 at 1-800273-8255
December 2015 San Bernardino, Calif; terrorist attack at Inland Regional Center; 14 dead 21 injured; gunman age 29
September 2013 Washington, D.C.; military veteran shoots at a navy yard; 12 dead; gunman age 34